Improvement in paints



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

DA ID E. BREINIG, OF BROOKLYN, New YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN PAINTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 178,264, dated June 6,1876; application filed April 26, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DAVID E. BREINIG, of thecity of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings andState of New York, haveinvented certain- Improvements in the Preparation of Zinc- White forPaints, of which the following is a specification:

When zinc-white paints, made in the usual manner, are applied to woodsurfaces, much difficulty is experienced from the peeling or scalingofi' of the paint after a brief exposure tothe weather. This is due tothe fact that while moisture causes wood to expand, it causes the commonor hitherto used zinc paints" to contract, thereby causing the latter tobecome detached from the former. The avoidance of this drawback. to theuse of zincwhite paint is all that is necessary to render such paintsuperior to that made with white lead, the zinc being free from thewell-known poisonous properties of the lead.

My invention is designed to effect this result by providing against thehereinbeforementioned tendency of the zinc-white paint to crack, peel,or scale away from the surface to which it may be applied; and this Iaccomplish by combining a proportion-say, from four to five and one-halfper cent-of Water with the ordinary commercial zino-white or oxide ofzine in connection with the grinding of the material in linseed-oil.

My said invention is the result of discoveries made by me through actualexperiment, and Ifind th-atthe action of water or moisture upon thezinc-white after it has been, in the ordinary manner, incorporated inthe manufacture of paint and applied to use, is quite different fromthat obtained by the addition of a suitable percentage of water to thezincwhite previous to such incorporation. In the one case the zinc'whitewill shrink and the.

paint will peel off, as hereinbefore set forth in the other, a firm,tough body is given, which, when the paint made therewith is used,expands instead of contracting, and accommodates itself to the surfaceof the wood to which it may be applied, no matter to what hygrometricchanges the latter may be subjected, so that by this means a painthaving a finer white color than that made with white lead, firmer andmore durable, and having the important advantage of being non-poisonous,is secured.

The method that I prefer to follow in carrying my invention intopracticeis as follows: I first mix the-zinc-white with the oil in thesame proportions and in the same manner as in the ordinary operation ofmaking zinc-white ground in oil. Having mixed the two quite thoroughly,I provide a paint-mill so constructed and arranged (by any usual orsuitable means or appliances) as to be kept hot during its use taken,however, that the heat be not sufficient to burn or injure the oil. Inthis mill I grind the zinc-White and oil together, and as fast as groundpermit it to drop into a vessel of cold water placed to receive it. Asthe water becomes heated from the inflow to it of the ground materialaforesaid, it should be replaced by that of a lower temperature, whichis best secured by permitting a stream of cold water to flow to andthrough the vessel aforesaid. After a sufficient quantity of the groundmaterial has been accumulated it i should be allowed to stand, stillcovered with the water, during a period of from five to ten hours, orthereabout. I then draw 01f the Water, the zincwhite having meanwhileformed a chemical combination with from four to five and one half percent. of its weight of water. The mass is'then reground in a mill,which, during this regrinding,should be kept perfectly cold. As thematerial issues from the mill from this its second grinding it may be atonce put up in packages of the usual form and character for market.

Zinc-white as thus prepared has many of the properties, of English whitelead, so termed, and, in addition to the peculiar characteristios givento it, as hereinbefore fully set forth, may be covered with water in thesame manner as is commonly practiced with white lead without the.deleterious results experienced when ordinary ground zinc-white iscovered with water in such wise.

It will, of course, be understood that the results secured by theherein-described process upon the zinc will be the same in pro--portionate degree when the zinc is mingled with barytes, silicates, orother substances very commonly used in connection with zinc in grinding.Care should be" in the production of the cheaper kinds of paints.

I do not claim the product made by first grinding zinc-white in Waterand then thinning with oil, as set forth in- Patent No. 121,147, as suchis essentially difi'erent in composition and practical value from theproductmade according to my invention but What I claim as my inventionis- 1. The herein-described material for paints,

possessing the qualities of hardness and toughness, and composed of oil,ground zinc- White, and Water, combined as and in the proportionssubstantially as set forth. I,

2. The process of preparing zinc-white for

